A series-high average of 10.3 million total viewers tuned in to the 9 p.m. finale, according to Nielsen. That's a 56% jump from last week's episode, which itself set a record for "Breaking Bad."

Creator Vince Gilligan's dark drama about Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a dying chemistry teacher who becomes a meth-dealing overlord, climaxed with one of the most spectacular series closers in TV-drama history, with a string of rapturously reviewed episodes and geometrically expanding viewership as the finale drew near.

And the 9 p.m. numbers actually undercount "Breaking Bad's" reach on Sunday. At 10:15 p.m., AMC repeated the last episode, this time with 4.4 million tuning in.

The finale also set a Twitter record for the show, with more than 1.2 million tweets during the broadcasts on the East and West coasts.

However, "Breaking Bad" did not come close to setting a record for a basic-cable drama. Earlier this year, the Season 3 finale of AMC's "The Walking Dead" drew 12.4 million.

The journey of chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) through "Breaking Bad" as a ruthless drug kingpin has left several dissolved bodies, point-blank shootings, eerie plane crashes and chemistry-fueled murders in its wake. Here's a look at some of the series' most macabre moments, meth-related...